AT&T, CWA ratify agreements for Midwest wireline employees

AT&T (NYSE: T) gained a regional reprieve with its wireline workforce on Friday as the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union voted to ratify a three-year contract covering the telco's Midwest region and AT&T Corp.

Late last month, AT&T and the CWA union reached tentative agreements. The Midwest agreement covers over 13,000 wireline employees in five states: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while the AT&T Corp. agreement covers about 5,700 wireline employees in various regions throughout the United States.

Labor negotiations have been ongoing between CWA and AT&T for several months. On Aug. 10, wireline employees working under the AT&T West and East contracts returned to work after a two-day strike.

The three agreements in the Southeast, which are now up for review by the CWA members for a ratification, cover more than 22,000 AT&T wireline employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.